THE BALD EAGLE. 29 
he flies out at a low elevation to a considerable distance to 
enjoy his repast at leisure. 
“ The quantity of food consumed by this enormous bird 
is very great, according to the account of those who have 
had them in confinement. Mr. Audubon's male bird 
weighed fourteen and a half pounds avoirdupois. One in a 
small museum in Philadelphia (according to the account of 
my friend Mr. C. Pickering), also a male, weighed much 
more, by which difference it would appear that they are 
capable of becoming exceedingly fat ; for the length of this 
bird was about the same as that of Audubon, three feet six 
or seven inches. The width, however, was only about seven 
feet, agreeing pretty nearly with a specimen now in the 
New England Museum. The male of the Golden Eagle, 
the largest hitherto known, is seldom more than three feet 
long." 
THE WHITE-HEADED, OP BALD EAGLE. 
(Halimtus leucocephalus .) 
This bird is about three feet long, and seven feet broad 
from tip to tip of the wings. The bill resembles that of 
the golden eagle, and from the chin hang some small 
hairy feathers like a beard. As it is found alike in regions 
of excessive cold and in the torrid zone, it is provided for 
